ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF BACTERIAL ISOLATES FROM SELECTED HALL 3 RESIDENT ROOMS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BENIN

ABSTRACT

Air is an important transmission route for bacteria and therefore it is essential to obtain knowledge about the bacteria present in indoor air and the factors that affect their presence. Bacterial isolates found in indoor air is a complex community made up of a wide population of microorganisms. Airborne bacteria in indoor environments are confirmed or presumed causal agents of various infectious diseases. Bacteriological air analysis or sampling of indoor air is necessary to identify the airborne isolates and know the microbiological composition of the air environments. Samples were collected from different points of the hostel room for a period of 3 weeks using the Settled Plate Method on Nutrient Agar. Isolation and identification of organisms were performed by culture, subculture, gram staining, biochemical tests and antibiotics susceptibility test of the isolates. The airborne bacterial colonies were classified using cultural characteristics, gram staining and biochemical tests. The results showed that the bacterial counts ranged from 14.24×10² to 3.33x10²  cfu/ml from the 3 sampling period. The bacterial isolate were Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Micrococcus sp. respectively.  The antibacterial susceptibility testing showed that most of the isolates were resistant to the antibiotics used. The hostel environment contain a large population of microorganisms from different sources ranging from the soil, water droplets suspended in air, action of wind which carries microbes from the surrounding air, human activities in the environment, accumulation of refuse and sewage. Regular surveillance and checks to monitor the bacteriological air qualities of these hostel rooms to ensure the effective occupant safety